


The Bet

by Tired (Decko)



Series: The Bet [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Annoying Draco Malfoy, Good Narcissa Black Malfoy, Harry Potter & Tom Riddle Attend Hogwarts Together, Harry Potter is Bad at Feelings, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mentioned Lucius Malfoy, Pureblood Society (Harry Potter), Quiet Harry Potter, Slytherin Harry Potter, Slytherins Being Slytherins, Teenage Tom Riddle, Tom Riddle is Bad at Feelings, Young Tom Riddle, but tom thinks so, he can barely tolerate him most of the time, malfoy’s not really that bad, not detailed, overdramatic tom riddle, tom and harry are bad at emotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:55:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27463777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Decko/pseuds/Tired
Summary: Tom didn’t know what to do.Why had he agreed to that stupid bet?Now he had no choice but to go to the Malfoys’ Yule ball.There was someone who, in a normal situation, he might enjoy going with.  That someone was Harry Potter.Unfortunately, this wasn’t a normal situation, and Tom had a very good reason to not want to go with him now...That reason being: Harry Potter is a backstabbing traitor that completely ruined his life!
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort
Series: The Bet [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2006611
Comments: 9
Kudos: 214





	The Bet

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on oa3 and also my first fic for this ship. I also don’t usually write things so romance-centric. I started this fic just to practice writing in cursive. I kept this as a romance-centric oneshot as much as I could, but in my head the universe has kinda run away from me a bit.
> 
> This isn’t perfect, but I decided to put it out there before I end up over-correcting. I’ll still be working on making it better, so please comment and let me know how best to do that!
> 
> (Also: I use the characters in the books, but that doesn’t necessarily reflect the time period this is supposed to take place in. I don’t really have a set one in mind. It’s likely really somewhere between Tom and Harry’s times.)

Tom didn't know what to do.

This rarely happened. He was known as a charming, self-assured genius for a reason. He was always prepared, was never caught off-guard, never lost at anything.

He had not been prepared for this.

Why did he agree to that stupid bet?

He closed his eyes as if that could block out the knowledge of his own foolishness. One would have thought he'd be immune to Malfoy's… Malfoyness after sharing a dorm with him for so many years, but apparently he was not, because Malfoy had still managed to annoy him into accepting the bet that he had ultimately lost.

Of course, as much as he wished he could blame Malfoy for all his problems, he had to admit, at least to himself, that a large part of it was his own fault. Tom had been overconfident.

So now he had no choice but to go to the Malfoys' Yule ball. And with that, came Tom's current dilemma: deciding who to bring as his date.

While Tom was aware that he could probably ask almost anyone and they would likely agree, that didn't mean that Tom would go with just anyone.

Most people would either bore him, annoy him, or harm any attempts at networking (because while Tom didn't want to go, he was still going to take advantage of the situation). There were a couple of people that might not drive him to murder, but it was a struggle to find anyone he thought he could enjoy going with.

Well, that's not completely true. There was someone who, in a normal situation, he could imagine he _might_ enjoy going with. That someone was Harry Potter.

Unfortunately, Tom currently had a very good reason not to want to go with him. A reason that was completely accurate and true and that wasn’t exaggerated or being thrown out of proportion at all. Obviously.

That reason being: Harry Potter's a backstabbing traitor that completely ruined his life!

Being the only two muggle-raised first years in Slytherin hadn’t immediately made Harry and Tom's best friends, of course, but it had been the starting point. They usually had to partner up in class by default and they traded books as they tried to catch up to—or, in Tom’s case, surpass—their magical-raised peers.

As Tom quickly rose to the top of his classes and eventually gained the fear and respect of their housemates, Harry’s grades remained deliberately average and he gained a reputation of his own.

Harry was one of those Slytherins that were a little bit infamous within the house for having information. The ones that the other Slytherins were completely aware of had tons of information and blackmail on everyone. One of those people that get around mainly unnoticed, that is incredibly skilled at the art of blending in.

The other houses viewed Harry as a normal kid, an average student, perhaps a surprisingly amiable Slytherin. Approachable enough for casual conversation, or small talk, or possibly to vent to, but not enough to be particularly memorable. A bit odd and distant, perhaps, but ultimately unremarkable.

Slytherins knew better. They were aware that people like Harry Potter or Blaise Zabini—or, for a couple of adult examples, Rita Skeeter or Narcissa Malfoy—were dangerous. But as dangerous as they were, they tended to keep mostly to themselves and were extremely unlikely to do anything unless there was a threat to them or something they cared about.

(Or someone is willing to pay a high enough price for their information or cooperation, of course, but that’s more of a Slytherin thing than a them-specific thing.)

Tom and Harry were, in some ways, opposites. Tom excelled and a large part of his plans took place in public, or out in the open. Harry appeared average and slipped under the radar. Despite this, or perhaps more accurately, because of this, they worked together very well. And it wasn’t limited to the normal kind of Slytherin alliance, either. They weren’t inseparable by any means—such an obvious dependency or potential weak spot was stupid to have, as many Slytherins would agree—but they were comfortable with each other to an extent Slytherins rarely are. It was just as or almost as common to see them together as it was to see them apart. They were both introverts, though neither were socially inept by any means—social introverts were very common in Slytherin, not that Harry was actually social, either—but it was far from rare for them to just sit together in silence to relax.

Tom, in hindsight, decided he probably should’ve realized something was strange when Malfoy challenged him to a bet. Since everyone in their house knew he and Harry were close, Slytherins rarely challenged Tom to bets. It’s just plain stupid unless it’s a purely luck-based bet or someone was trying to get in Tom’s good graces by losing purposefully. Tom had thought that Malfoy was just desperate, but he probably should have known that he had somehow convinced Harry to give Tom faulty information.

Convinced Harry to betray him. Tom would never even think of trusting or caring for anyone ever again. Not after he got so close—how close?—with Harry just for the other to throw it back into his face for _Malfoy!_

Tom was well aware that he was being perhaps a tad bit overdramatic. It’s just one ball, one bet. Tom doubted Harry was being malicious, and they _were_ Slytherins. It would be more worrying if there _weren’t_ any mild double-crossing, mysterious actions with unclear intentions, and some (probably slightly convoluted) schemes to get someone to go to a social event at some point. Still, Tom was a bit salty.

But if he had to go to this social event, he didn’t want to make it even more boring and annoying by going with some other kid just out of spite. So he restrained his saltiness and left to get ready for breakfast.

* * *

He walked into the Great Hall and immediately slid into the seat next to Harry. If Harry was surprised to see Tom next to him despite the betrayal, he didn’t show it.

“I hate you,” Tom told him, putting some food on his plate.

Harry’s only visible reaction was a raised eyebrow, though Tom could see amusement in his eyes. Part of Tom wanted to glare at Harry for his minimal reaction to Tom’s declaration, but mostly Tom found himself relieved that Harry didn’t take that statement seriously. He may be a bit salty at the other right now, but still, the thought of Harry being hurt was...unpleasant. (Tom refused to think a word stronger than that.)

Tom glanced away and at his food, keeping his face blank. He felt strangely nervous and didn’t really know why. If Harry said no, he could always find someone else. So what’s the big deal? Tom internally scoffed at himself and mentally rolled his eyes. It didn’t help the nervousness, but that didn’t matter. He wasn’t in the habit of letting insignificant little things like emotions get in his way.

He looked back at Harry, who still had an eyebrow raised but now also had his head slightly tilted with curiosity, looking at Tom like he was trying to solve an interesting riddle (hehe).

Tom felt something at that. He didn’t know what, or maybe he just refused to think it, but he definitely felt something.

“Do you want to go to the Malfoys’ Yule ball with me?” Tom asked. It came out a little bit faster than he meant it to. It was barely noticeable, but he was still glad none of the other Slytherins were close enough to hear them.

Harry was visibly surprised. He quickly got control of his face, but he seemed to be struggling with words.

Tom found himself a bit disgruntled by the response, or the lack of one, despite it only having been about three seconds. “What was that face for?” he demanded, but still had the sense to keep his voice at a reasonable level.

“Nothing,” Harry answered. “I just thought you’d want to go by yourself, is all. Since Malfoy didn’t actually say you had to have a date.”

Tom opened his mouth to respond to that, but then closed his mouth as he realized he hadn’t even thought of that. He looked away from Harry to stare at the table with shock at having missed such an obvious loophole. Harry, of course, soon connected the dots and realized that the idea hadn’t even occurred to him, and then he did what anyone does when their (not at all overly dramatic) friend goes into shock after their life is irreversibly altered: he laughed.

Tom snapped out of his shock and glared at him. Harry wasn’t laughing loudly—very few things that Harry did were loud, though this was louder than Harry normally was—but it was still unusual enough to gain a couple of looks from the Slytherins at the other end of the table. Harry’s laughs subsided when he noticed, and he gave Tom an apologetic but still amused smile.

“Of course I’ll go with you if you want me to,” Harry replied quietly, resting his hand on Tom’s arm for a fleeting moment.

Tom nodded. He briefly thought about refusing and just going alone now that he knew it was technically an option, but found he didn’t want to. He wanted to bring Harry with him, to spend time with him. It would be more enjoyable knowing that Harry was there. Most things were, now that he thought of it.

Why was that? Why was it that the world always seemed a little bit brighter when Harry was there? Tom wasn’t an idiot; he knew he cared for the other to some degree. But he hadn’t noticed it had gotten quite this far. If he could miss something like that, then how much else was he missing? He felt himself begin to reflexively fill with fear at the thought.

“You okay?” Harry asked. He spoke quietly, in hardly a murmur, not wanting to cause a scene. Tom looked at him and saw some concern on the other’s face.

“Yeah,” he replied easily with a faint smile he knew the other would see. Harry met his eyes for a moment. For someone the other houses thought of as harmless, Harry’s gaze could be very intense at times, a kind of piercing curiosity. A bit like a predator in the way that he simply knew that whatever knowledge he was seeking, he would get to it eventually. The look where he wasn’t even trying to hide that he was searching for something, solving you like some kind of puzzle.

There was something else in Harry’s eyes too, something that Tom couldn’t quite name. If Harry’s gaze sometimes seemed like you were a puzzle he was trying to solve, then just now Harry was looking at him like he was a particularly fascinating puzzle. A puzzle he really enjoyed trying to solve. Tom resolutely ignored the strange way that thought made him feel, and stubbornly suppressed the heat that tried to rise to his face at the intensity of Harry’s gaze. Tom isn’t sure if he failed or if Harry really just knows him that well, but either way, he could see a small smile trying to form on the other’s face. At least, that’s what Tom assumed could be causing the smile, but it’s also possible Harry was just having similar struggles to Tom. Tom found himself hoping he was.

  
  


After a moment, Harry gave in to the smile attempting to form. It was small, but definitely there. Then he finally looked away. Tom hadn’t been unknowingly holding his breath, but he felt a bit like he had.

They ate their food next to each other in a silence a bit different than the normal ones that tended to extend between them. If any of then Slytherins that started to fill out the table noticed anything, they didn’t mention it.

* * *

“I heard you’re going to the Malfoys’ ball,” said one brave girl later that day. “If you need a date, I’d be happy to attend with you.”

“I’m sorry,” Tom said, “but I already know who I’m bringing.”

“Oh,” the girl said, blushing slightly. “Never mind then. Have a good day, Tom.”

“You too,” Tom said. He dispassionately watched her leave the library.

“You know,” Harry said conversationally, sliding into the seat next to him out of nowhere, “they might leave you alone if you gave them a name.”

“What?”

“How many people have asked you at this point?” Harry asked rhetorically. “It would be more effective if you told them who it is. The attention would be diverted from you and more people would believe it.”

“The attention would be diverted because some of the attention would be brought to you,” Tom pointed out. “Wouldn’t that threaten your whole—“ he made a vague hand motion “—thing?”

Harry, thankfully, didn’t mention Tom’s–somehow still graceful–temporary lack of eloquence. “Not threaten, really,” Harry said with a shrug. “Besides, showing up with you at the ball isn’t exactly going to help my anonymity anyway, is it?”

Tom raised his eyebrows. “Then why’d you agree?”

“I could use a challenge. Things have been getting a bit boring,” he said. He looked at Tom, and he must’ve seen somehow the disguised disappointment Tom definitely wasn’t feeling at the thought that Harry only agreed because he was bored, because after a moment, Harry continued. “...And you matter more to me than my reputation does, of course.”

Tom found himself smiling a bit before he could think about it. Harry smiled back, so he didn’t really mind.

A few minutes later, a thought occurred to Tom. “Some people will think we’re really dating if we announce you’re going with me, you know,” he said.

Harry paused. “Yeah,” he said with feigned indifference. Tom could tell the indifference was fake, but didn’t know what it was hiding. He didn’t let himself guess.

He let the subject drop.

Harry disappeared again a couple minutes later, probably going back to snooping around and digging up people’s private information and blackmailing them or whatever it was Harry did when he wasn’t around Tom. Tom had never asked unless he needed information, though he had always wondered. But there were just some things they didn’t talk about in detail.

  
  
  


Later that day, Tom got to the common room a little later than usual. He went over to where Harry was sitting on a couch in the corner.

“If you think we should tell everyone we’re going together that’s fine by me,” he said once he’d sat down next to him. “It won’t really affect me as much as it’d affect you, so I’ll leave the choice to you.”

Harry nodded. He had a distracted look in his eye that most would assume was just him being lost in thought, but Tom knew meant he was scheming something. Harry looked at the book he was holding, going back to reading, but Tom could tell that most of his mental process was directed elsewhere.

Like any Slytherin, Harry was careful with his expressions. They tended to be either very deliberate, or blank. But he sometimes relaxed a bit about that when he was with Tom, as did Tom with him. Tom watched the subtle changes in Harry’s expression and allowed a small smile to form on his face.

A day later, Tom was walking into the Great Hall after one of his classes. When he entered, a Gryffindor girl with curly light brown hair and dark blue eyes that he helped sometimes in Transfiguration came up to him. He knew he’d be able to remember her name if he really thought about it, but he didn’t bother. She was a side character, after all.

Luckily, she didn’t block his path. She walked with him.

“I heard that you’re going to the Malfoys’ Yule Ball,” she said. “I mean everyone’s heard about that by now, of course—but people have been saying that you already have a date and you haven’t told anyone who it is.” She looked at him expectantly. “You don’t happen to want to tell, do you?”

His eyes met Harry’s from across the Great Hall for a brief moment. Harry smiled slightly and Tom knew that he had orchestrated this conversation to get the news out. Tom looked at the girl again. Not a bad choice. Brave enough to ask him about it, distant enough a connection for it to not seem like a staged conversation but close enough to not seem unnatural. She had a permanently positive expression and disposition, but not overly so. She was a bit talkative, but she also genuinely didn’t mind if you weren’t listening. She was one of the more bearable Gryffindors.

“Yes, I am going to the Malfoys’ ball,” he said. “And yes, I do have my plus-one already. I considered going alone, of course, but in the end I decided to invite Harry to accompany me.” At her blank look, he specified, “I am, of course, referring to Harry Potter.”

“Lucky him,” she said, sounding genuine instead of having the envious tone another girl (or boy) may have adopted. Tom vaguely recalled that the girl was a lesbian and had a girlfriend. Unless that was someone else, of course. He never cared much to keep track of other people’s sexualities or the romantic lives of his peers if he didn’t have to. “Well, I have to go eat. I’m really hungry—missed breakfast this morning and dinner yesterday. See you in class!”

Tom replied politely. She went over and sat with a group of her friends at the Gryffindor table. Tom went to the Slytherin table.

Tom wanted to sit with Harry, but when he looked for Harry, he was gone. He glanced around and saw him leaving the room. Tom was a bit disappointed but didn’t blame Harry for wanting to be on his own for a bit. He wouldn’t judge him for that, especially not now.

Tom sat across from Malfoy and made idle chit chat with the other Slytherins, internally wishing for Harry’s quiet presence instead.

* * *

“Remember our first year?” Tom stopped himself from jumping, not having expected Harry to say anything. Harry noticed his hidden response anyway.

“Sorry,” Harry muttered.

“It’s okay,” Tom said. Harry didn’t seem to be about to continue.

When one of them didn’t want to talk about something, they left it alone. It was an obvious rule, an unspoken one, and an easy one to follow (considering they were perfectly comfortable with being together and not talking at all). But this seemed to Tom like it wasn’t the case.

Looking at Harry, Tom noticed that this seemed less like his normal quiet self and more subdued. Self-conscious, almost. Which was not like Harry at all. Harry was as self-assured as Tom was. He was just less outwardly expressive about it. His quiet self-assurance was one of the (many) things Tom liked about Harry.

“What about our first year?” Tom asked carefully, not entirely sure he was making the right choice.

Harry was silent for a moment, long enough that Tom started to doubt his choice. Then Harry breathed, slowly, and continued talking, and Tom knew he’d made the right choice.

“For the beginning of it, everyone was always talking and looking at me,” Harry said.

Tom hadn’t forgotten that part of their first year, but it wasn’t something he often thought about, either.

“When I did nothing noteworthy besides being put in Slytherin and Skeeter stopped making stuff up, people eventually moved on to more interesting things,” Harry said. “People stopped thinking of me as Harry _Potter._ For the most part, they stopped thinking about me at all, and when they do, it’s as Harry, the average nobody.”

Harry looked at Tom. “I know being seen as an ‘average nobody’ sounds completely awful to you, Tom, but I happen to like my relative anonymity.”

Tom bristled slightly. “I didn’t make you—“

“I’m not blaming you,” Harry clarified. “Not at all. But this is that noteworthy thing everybody was waiting for back in first year. All of that talking and attention is going to come back again.”

This was the longest he’d heard Harry talk about anything that wasn’t educational in a long time. Even without that, Harry tended to avoid talking about his emotions or anything personal like the plague. Tom did too, as did many Slytherins. The last time they’d talked about something this important was back in first year, when they’d found out a bit about each other's lives outside of Hogwarts.

When Harry was talking about emotions or personal subjects, Harry avoided emotional terminology like “I like” or “I don’t like” or “it makes me feel.” Despite this, it was still obvious that this was bothering Harry. Not that Harry was trying to hide it from Tom, he was just uncomfortable with his current vulnerability.

Tom had comforted people before. Occasionally he’d stumble across an upset student and had to help them to keep his reputation positive (he wanted to stay a prefect, after all, and it wouldn’t do to be seen as insensitive). But it was different with Slytherins. When he helped a Slytherin with an emotional matter, it tended to be in the form of plotting revenge or recommending they learn Occlumency. Tom was pretty sure that wasn’t the way to go here.

He reached over without thinking and took Harry’s hand. He felt Harry look at him in surprise. Tom felt his face starting to heat up, and resolutely didn’t look at Harry, glad no one else was there to see.

Harry didn’t pull his hand away, and Tom didn’t let go.

* * *

There was more silence between them now. Harry got more interaction during the days now, and Tom could tell he didn’t like it. Harry was managing it easily enough in public, but when Harry and Tom were alone, Harry gave off a kind of quiet, agitated energy. Tom got the distinct feeling that Harry needed more space, but the first time he’d tried to leave once when he entered a room to find Harry was the only one there, Harry had stopped him.

(“Tom,” Harry had said quietly, making Tom abandon his movement to leave. Harry had hesitated, and Tom raised an eyebrow.

“Help me with DADA homework?” he’d said at last. It was an obvious ploy, since they both knew Harry was far smarter than he pretended to be and, while it wasn’t rare for them to study together, it was rarely because one of them actually needed help (especially in DADA).

Tom didn’t call him out on it.)

The days until winter break passed both quickly and slowly. As much as Tom liked to learn, he was relieved when the winter holidays arrived. Harry and Tom were the only Slytherins in their year staying at the school, and one of the only remaining Slytherins in the school.

Because of this, Harry and Tom spent the majority of their time sitting in the Slytherin common room.

Eventually, the day of the Malfoys’ yule celebration arrived. They spent the day reading, and then went off to get ready.

Tom came out in his dress robes—they hadn’t been incredibly expensive, of course, but they were still nice enough that they wouldn’t seem out of place—and his eyes widened when he saw Harry.

“Nice robes,” he commented after a moment. Harry looked at himself and then back at Tom.

“Thanks,” he said. “They’re a gift from a couple years ago. They're a bit more fancy than I’m used to.”

“Yeah,” Tom said. Harry’s robes were a bit more fancy than his, and likely far more expensive, though Tom had done a good enough job finding robes that appeared more expensive than they actually were, so it wasn’t a big enough difference for Tom to seem out of place.

“I figured I may as well dress well,” Harry said. “There’s going to be attention on me anyway, and it wouldn’t do for your date to be hideous.”

“You’re not hideous,” Tom said without thinking. Harry looked at him a bit strangely but didn’t reply.

“Ready to go?” Harry asked. Tom nodded. They flooed to the Malfoys’.

They were directed down the hall towards the ballroom.

* * *

“Something’s been bugging me for a while,” Tom told Harry later, after a couple songs of dancing and talking with people.

“What’s that?” Harry replied after a second.

“I never thought it was the right time to bring it up,” Tom said, “but I’ve been meaning to ask for a while. Why did you make me lose that bet?”

Harry was silent.

“Because I’ve been trying to think of a good reason why you would,” Tom continued. “For a moment, I thought maybe you just wanted to go to the ball, but it’s pretty clearly not that.” He paused. Harry didn’t speak, so Tom continued again. “The only reason I can think of that makes any sense is that the Malfoys somehow convinced you to make me lose. Presumably they bribed you for it, since I think everyone knows blackmailing you would be a stupid choice.”

Harry was silent still, but this time Tom didn’t continue. Harry held Tom’s gaze for a couple seconds without responding.

“I knew this would come up eventually,” he sighed at last.

He was quiet for another moment, thinking about how to reply. Tom idly listened to the music playing in the background as he waited for the explanation.

Harry’s eyes refocused as he came to a decision on what to say. Tom watched him, waiting patiently.

“I would’ve gone to the ball, even if you didn’t,” Harry said.

Tom looked at him with a bit of confusion. “I didn’t realize you were invited.”

“I wasn’t,” Harry replied, and Tom had no good response to that.

Showing up uninvited to a party in a highly warded house without anyone noticing was kind of just so classically Harry that Tom was briefly ashamed of himself for being surprised.

“I’ve been going to most big parties hosted by families of students for a couple years now,” Harry said, not a hint of either shame or judgement at Tom for not guessing or noticing. “There’s quite a bit of information to get from these things.”

Harry paused. “Then why…” Tom prompted.

“As interesting as it is,” Harry continued, “it can get very dull at times. And as I said, or at least implied, earlier in the story, I have been bored recently.” He pauses for a moment and meets Tom’s eyes. “I was going to try and convince you to go anyway. You always make everything more interesting.”

Tom huffed a laugh. “As do you,” he said, amused. Then he frowned slightly with puzzlement. “And when did trying to convince me turn into tricking me into coming?”

Harry smiled, an odd mixture of apologetic, mischievous, embarrassed, and amused.

“The Malfoys also wanted you here,” he explained. “I was a bit hesitant to trick you, but it, admittedly, didn’t take too long for me to agree.”

“What did they offer you?” Tom asked.

“Mr Malfoy made multiple offers,” Harry said, “but it was really Auntie Cissa that convinced me.”

Tom’s eyebrows raised at the informal address of Mrs Malfoy and was about to ask, but didn’t get to as someone else addressed them.

“Hello,” said Lady Malfoy herself. Tom stopped himself from jumping, not having noticed her approach. Tom couldn’t tell if Harry was surprised or not, and didn’t know which to guess. “I presume you’re explaining things to Mr Riddle, Harry, dear? Would you like any help?”

Harry smiled. “I was just talking about the deal we made so that I’d convince Tom to come,” he said.

Narcissa and Harry’s eyes met. Tom could tell there was some kind of wordless conversation happening, but he couldn’t read it.

Then, Narcissa turned to Tom and smiled. “Hello, Mr Riddle,” she said. “It’s good to finally meet you.”

Tom smiled back politely. “Thank you for the invitation, Mrs Malfoy.”

“Please, call me Narcissa,” she said.

Tom nodded. “Then call me Tom.”

“I’ll leave you two to finish your conversation,” she said.

“Bye, Cissa,” Harry said. She smiled at him before walking away towards another group.

Tom watched her walk away before looking at Harry.

“My grandmother was a Black,” Harry said, answering his unasked question, “so Narcissa and I are related. Narcissa saw me and recognized me during a party a few years back. We’re technically cousins of some kind, but Pureblood kids refer to close relatives that are older than them as their aunt or uncle.” Harry smiled with some amusement. “Clearly Narcissa got past my blood status.”

“Has Lord Malfoy?” Tom asked curiously.

Harry made a so-so gesture. “He’s willing to ignore it because his son respects me and Narcissa approves of me, but we’re not that close. I don’t call him uncle or anything.”

“So what did Mrs—Narcissa offer you?” It felt strange, calling an adult pureblood by their given name. Harry smiled, both amused and understanding, having gone through the same adjustment phase.

“She offered to let me stay with them over the summer if I could get you to come,” Harry said, and Tom suddenly knew what the two had been communicating earlier.

Tom knew that the Dursleys were awful. He didn’t know the details, of course, but he’s known it wasn’t good since first year. That he was willing to let Narcissa know about it meant a lot. The look that Narcissa and Harry shared was her realizing the same about Tom.

“If you had told me that, the bet would’ve been unnecessary,” Tom said.

“I thought so,” Harry said, “but I wasn’t sure.”

And Tom understood that. With an opportunity like that, it makes sense that Harry wouldn’t want to do anything that could jeopardize it. He would have done the same if it would get him out of the orphanage.

“That’s great,” he said. “That you can stay with them.” He firmly shoved away any part of him that was envious or bitter about it.

Harry met his eyes for a long moment before replying. “You could stay with us too,” he said. “That was part of the deal too.”

Tom’s gaze hardened. “What did you tell her?”

“Nothing,” Harry assured him. “Of course I didn’t tell her anything. You know I wouldn’t do that.”

Tom bowed his head slightly in a silent apology before raising his eyebrows expectantly.

“I only said that it was a deal if I could bring a person of my choice,” Harry explained. “I gave no specifics, I promise. They agreed to those terms after Mr. Malfoy made sure the extra guest would be magical.” Harry rolled his eyes. “But yeah. If you wish to stay with the Malfoys for the summer, or part of the summer, let me or a Malfoy know.”

“I don’t owe them anything for it, do I?” Tom asked, just to make sure.

“Nope,” Harry replied. “It’s all a part of my deal. Though, if you want to be technical about it, you’re kind of paying for it by being at the ball.

Tom nodded, already knowing what he’d choose but wanting to take some time to think over it anyway (and mentally prepare to spend a whole summer with Draco Malfoy). Harry smiled at him, and they became quiet once more.

Then, after a few minutes, Tom left to go talk to some more rich people. Harry watched him go.

* * *

“Hey, Harry?” Tom said a day later.

“Yeah?” Harry said.

“I’m going to stay with you and the Malfoys over the summer,” he said.

Harry nodded and smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. It’ll be nice having you around.”

Tom felt something weird happen inside him when Harry said that. He felt...a bit lighter, in a way. He felt like that a lot when around Harry, he realized. Or when he thought about Harry. He frowned.

“Hey, Tom?” Harry said, in an accidental echo of Tom just a few paragraphs ago.

Some kind of fondness. Affection.

Both are things he never thought he’d be able to feel. Both are things he’d become used to feeling towards Harry.

“Yeah?” Tom asked.

And wasn’t that just terrifying for someone like Tom? Someone so afraid all the time but of only two things: death and weakness?

…

Why wasn’t it terrifying?

Tom puzzled over the realization.

“Um, so…” Harry began.

Why wasn’t it terrifying? It should have been.

Oh, there it was.

Not because the feelings scared him. But because they didn’t.

They always had before. Or at least…

When had it stopped?

For a moment, Tom’s head was a clouded mess, mainly confusion. Then, he remembered Harry was saying something, and he immediately cleared his mind to listen.

But Harry wasn’t speaking. He wasn’t looking at Tom expectantly, either, so he wasn’t waiting for an answer. It seemed like he was hesitant. Nervous, perhaps. Of what, Tom didn’t know.

Tom frowned, getting a bit worried. “You okay?”

Harry glanced at him but didn’t look him in the eyes. “Yes. Um.” He hesitated again. Tom frowned more but then he instinctively set his expression to a neutral-reassuring one he used when trying to get an upset younger student to tell him what’s wrong. He felt a bit bad when Harry apparently recognized the expression and flushed slightly with embarrassment and his expression turned a bit indignant, but it did work, because in an instant, Harry’s normal calm demeanor was back in place.

Tom found himself both proud of the other’s mask and a bit disheartened that he had to use it with him. He didn’t let either show.

“You know what you said the other day?” Harry said, voice carefully neutral. At Tom’s blank look, Harry explained. “When you said people would think we’re dating.”

Tom nodded, recalling how he said that, and also recalling Harry’s odd non-response and faked indifference. He wondered if he was going to get an explanation now.

It seemed likely, but Harry often surprised him. He felt that light feeling come back full force, and absently noticed that it actually felt like it might be a bit more than a simple fondness or affection. He pushed that thought away to think about later. It wasn’t the time for that.

“Well.” Harry said, and for barely a second, he hesitated again. Harry had clearly not completely thought this out, which is strange for him. He was rarely uncertain about his choices. But he immediately snapped out of it, and just went on despite his obvious hesitancy. For possibly the first time, Tom understood why Harry said the sorting hat had considered Gryffindor. “What if we were?”

“Were what?” Tom asked, before his mind caught up and he mentally slapped himself. “...Oh.” He mentally slapped himself again for that...plebeian response. He tried to think of something else to say, but found he couldn’t think of anything. He realized his face was a bit warmer than usual and realized he must’ve been visibly blushing at least a little bit. There was no way that Harry, the amazing, observant person that he was, didn’t see it.

Harry was looking at him, expression calm, but Tom could see the nervousness and the worry in the other’s eyes.

Tom opened his mouth, wanting to say something to make that fear go away, but nothing came out. His mind blanked on what to say. He mouth shut.

He needed to answer. He needed to say something.

Say what? His mind still came up empty.

He hated talking about emotions.

Internally, he sighed. He refocused. Clearly, speaking wasn’t working. He pushed away the frustration at his uncharacteristic lack of eloquence for later, focusing instead on finding a way around it. What else could he do?

His mind flashed back to when he’d held Harry’s hand. The way he felt when Harry didn’t pull it away.

That was an option.

Nothing else came to mind.

Neither of them were accustomed to any kind of positive physical contact. Harry was as clueless as Tom was, and that’s what gave Tom the confidence he needed.

Carefully, slowly, in case there was any sign that he was making the wrong move, Tom reached out. He took Harry’s hands for a moment, before reaching around him and pulling him close in a hug. Something so simple and insignificant to most other people, but that was a foreign concept and definitely a big deal to them.

A moment passed, and then Harry was moving. Tom thought he might’ve been about to pull away, judging by the tenseness of the other, but instead he just returned the hug.

Tom found that he could think a bit better now. He wasn’t looking at Harry’s neutral face and nervous eyes anymore.

He took a deep breath. He could tell Harry noticed because he tensed and waited for him to do something.

He held that breath for a small moment before whispering, in a voice more calm and confident than he felt, “Okay.”

He felt Harry jerk slightly with what he guessed was surprise. He loosened his grip and began to pull away, to see Harry’s face, but Harry tightened his grip. Immediately after, he’d let go of him, but didn’t pull away, so Tom assumed Harry was just unsure about what was okay. He didn’t mind so he didn’t pull back like he was about to and instead just kept holding Harry close. After a moment, Harry was hugging him back again.

“If you want to—if you think we should—“ Tom’s sentences were coming out half-formed, but he knew that Harry understood. “If you—then that’s—okay. We can. Try.”

“I do,” Harry replied after a moment. “Want that. Want to.”

“Okay,” Tom said again. He didn’t try to pull away again, not minding despite the instinctive thoughts that this _wasn’t okay_ triggered by the physical contact. Those thoughts—that Harry was likely having as well, Tom knew—were neither the most important nor the most abundant, and were easy to push away to the back of his mind.

“Then we will.”  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I have a couple ideas for more stories in this universe. I don’t know if I should actually write them.
> 
> Please comment! Tell me what you liked, disliked, what I should do better, if I should post more or not, any questions you have, etc.


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